July 24th, 2014, Thursday, Zheng Country, 7:35 AM.

The flight from Shan Country airport to Chuncheng airport takes two hours, and from Chuncheng airport to Hongcheng takes two and a half hours. Adding in the transfer and waiting time, Su Zhou and Shao Qiming didn't return to their hometown, Hongzhou Hongcheng, until the next morning.

The Zheng Country government was quite efficient in handling this matter. After signing confidentiality agreements with all the evacuated tourists in the airport customs hall, they not only chartered planes for the return journey but also arranged taxis from the airport to their homes. If no one was picking them up at the airport, the government would pay for a ride home, or temporarily accommodate them in a hotel if they couldn't return immediately.

At the airport entrance, Su Zhou and Shao Qiming said goodbye. After all, Shao Qiming came from a wealthy merchant family, and his family's driver had been waiting for him for hours.

The driver also recognized Su Zhou, the family's 'second young master,' and couldn't resist teasing him, "Second Young Master Su, don't you want me to give you a ride home?"

"Uncle Feng, you're just making fun of me. I'll definitely badmouth you to Uncle Shao next time." Su Zhou joked back with a northeastern accent, then turned to bid farewell to his friend, "I'll see you later then. We'll talk about those things."

He didn't say they'd talk online. Although there were secure methods of communication online, it was best to avoid any loopholes.

"See you."

Shao Qiming naturally understood his friend's meaning, so he smiled and waved goodbye.

After his friend left, Su Zhou stood alone in silence for a moment, lost in thought. A few minutes later, he took his luggage and got into a taxi.

Hongzhou has many lakes and rivers, and Hongcheng can be described as a city built on water.

Su Zhou's home was located in the New Garden residential area, by the Fu River in the city.

He got out of the taxi at the entrance of the residential area, took his luggage, and walked towards his home. He took out his access card and opened the door to his apartment building. It was then that he noticed something rather unexpected.

"Yala, why are all these mosquitoes and insects avoiding me?"

Su Zhou looked around. He could see that all the reptiles hiding in the shadows and the insects flying silently in the air were fleeing in fear, as if they had sensed some terrifying aura.

A vacuum circle of about ten meters in radius had formed around him, free of mosquitoes and insects, and he was quite astonished. "What's going on?"

"What's so strange about that? You have my blood. The beasts and poisonous insects of the mortal realm naturally fear you. A drop of your blood could keep an area free of insects and ants for ten years."

The snake spirit, curled up beside Su Zhou's ear, seemed to have eaten its fill and was resting. It lazily replied, "Commanding poisonous insects and plagues is not within my domain, so this is all. But next time you encounter a seed of a serpent dragon, you'll know your power of deterrence."

"Unexpectedly useful!"

Without paying too much attention to the second half of the sentence, Su Zhou was simply delighted at the thought that he would never be bothered by mosquitoes buzzing in his ear again.

He got into the elevator, pressed the button for the seventh floor, and soon arrived at his floor, heading towards apartment 101.

But just as Su Zhou was humming a little tune in a cheerful mood, taking out his keys to open the door, his keen hearing picked up a cold snort from inside the house, as well as the sound of a television news broadcast.

"Crap!"

Instantly, Su Zhou's heart skipped a beat. "Could it be that Mom and Dad aren't working overtime today and are actually home?"

That shouldn't be!

But now, he couldn't possibly not enter. Putting on a brave face, Su Zhou opened the door and said softly, "I'm back..."

"You know to come back?"

A middle-aged man's voice, laced with anger, rang out.

He could see a man and a woman sitting on the sofa in the room, having turned off the television.

The middle-aged man had a sharp, stern face, and was wearing a police uniform. He was burly but looked tired, and his eyes, surrounded by dark circles, were bloodshot from prolonged sleep deprivation.

"You little brat!"

Su Zhou's father, Su Beiluo, stood up and strode menacingly towards his son. He used one hand to help Su Zhou take off his luggage, and with the other, he ruffled his hair fiercely. "You even told Uncle Shao and Aunt Wen 'Don't tell my parents'? Huh? Afraid they'd worry? Huh?"

"You didn't even call home to let us know you were safe after a terrorist attack. You've really grown up, haven't you? You want to worry us to death?!"

"Don't ruffle his hair. He's not very smart to begin with. What if you make him even dumber?"

A woman, similarly dressed in a smart manner with a tired face, was doing eye exercises, with a doctor's badge hanging in front of her chest. She closed her eyes and said quietly, "At least our child knows not to worry his parents. That's filial piety. That's a good thing."

The doctor's badge had three large characters on it: Ning Shiyu.

A line of smaller characters read: Deputy Director of General Surgery.

"Mom, Dad, I was wrong!"

Hearing his parents' sarcastic words, the tone of which was unmistakably that of his own parents, Su Zhou suddenly had a flash of inspiration and recalled the speech Shao Qiming had prepared for him.

He cleared his throat and immediately put on a look of heartfelt remorse, berating himself, "It's all my fault! It's all my fault! I shouldn't have been afraid of temporary trouble and deliberately concealed information, I shouldn't have let my guard down and been so carefree abroad..."

The continuous self-examination lasted for a full five minutes, nearly a thousand words, with no repeated reasons. The sincerity of his emotional outpouring and the depth of his self-condemnation were so moving that the couple looked at each other, their anger completely dissipated.

Finally, Su Beiluo couldn't bear to listen any longer and quickly waved his hand. "Stop, that's enough. We know you've admitted your mistakes!"

After Su Zhou stopped speaking, the middle-aged man suspiciously scrutinized his son's uncharacteristically obedient expression. As a member of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, he vaguely sensed that Su Zhou's behavior was somewhat strange.

Too calm.

It was simply too calm, without a trace of fear or trepidation... Although his son had indeed been bold since childhood, even daring, there was no reason for him to be so calm and at ease after encountering an armed assault and kidnapping abroad.

Also, the watch on his left hand was gone... Had it been stolen?

The woman also opened her eyes and looked at Su Zhou, frowning as well. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but Su's mother, Ning Shiyu, felt that her son had not only not tanned after his trip abroad but had actually become whiter and more handsome than before.

Although he was her son, who had inherited her genes, and it was only natural for him to be handsome, what was the explanation for this? Did Shan Country have good water and soil that nourished people?

Should she find an opportunity to travel to Shan Country with her husband?

"Judging from Mom and Dad's personalities, as long as they didn't ask directly, it means they haven't suspected anything yet."

At this moment, Su Zhou could sense the suspicious gazes of his parents, but this reassured him instead, knowing that he had passed this hurdle... He had wanted to pretend to be frightened and trembling, but Su Zhou thought that with his clumsy acting skills, he would likely be exposed by his parents, who were professionals.

After all, he wasn't afraid at all from the bottom of his heart!

Su Beiluo, somewhat verbose, is currently the Captain of the Second Division of the Hongcheng Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade, specializing in criminal investigation work, with the rank of Third-Level Police Supervisor.

Ning Shiyu, fond of telling cold jokes, is currently the Deputy Director and Associate Professor of General Surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hongcheng Academy.

Advising people to study medicine is cursed by the heavens, advising people to study law is deserving of a thousand cuts, advising people to become police officers is deserving of five thunderbolts.

Su Zhou's family had fulfilled two of these not-so-friendly local sayings. If he were to study law himself, then the family would be complete with 'Cursed by the heavens, five thunderbolts, a thousand cuts'-- and these words were actually true.

From the time they were ordinary police officers and ordinary doctors, up until now, their overtime and business trips had never stopped. At least 330 out of 365 days a year, they were so busy that their feet barely touched the ground, and they had no time to take care of Su Zhou, basically letting him fend for himself.

Fortunately, the Su family had a family friend, namely Shao Qiming's parents, who were kind enough to help. Furthermore, Shao Qiming's mother was at home due to mobility issues, so she had time to help take care of Su Zhou. Otherwise, he would probably have starved to death and become a member of a well-known social news story.

"I'm relieved to see you, you little brat, safe and sound... Sigh, I specifically took half a day off, but I have to go back and continue working on the case later."

Muttering these words, Su Beiluo dragged his tired body back to the sofa and closed his eyes. "I was too embarrassed to leave, but the director forcibly approved my half-day leave."

"Isn't that the truth."

Ning Shiyu walked towards the kitchen, yawning as well, and said wearily, "Recently, I don't know why, but a large number of veteran directors and professors have been transferred from the hospital and the academy, and there's a serious shortage of manpower. I also rushed home in my spare time."

These kinds of complaints about being busy were originally daily occurrences in the Su family, but today, when Su Zhou heard them, there was a hint of something unusual.

He was packing his luggage to the side, unable to stop himself from thinking, "Dad has been so busy lately? Mom's side as well, even transferring veteran doctors. I feel like something isn't right..."

But the suspicion was only fleeting. After all, they had always been busy in the past, and they had seen this level of busyness before.

It was precisely because he knew they were busy with work that Su Zhou didn't want them to worry about him, but now it seemed like he hadn't considered things enough.

"Su Zhou, ask about the situation, about that case."

Originally, he didn't plan to disturb his father's rest, but the snake spirit gently bit him, reminding him. Only then did Su Zhou say, "By the way, Dad, what kind of case have you been working on recently that you're so busy with that you can't even spare half a day?"

"A murder case."

Su Beiluo frowned. This matter shouldn't have been spoken about, but it wasn't a secret, and the news would be reported soon anyway, so he simply said it, "In the Chigu Beach area, three people have died in four days. Preliminary determination is that it should be a serial murder case.

This case is very serious, but what's even more serious is that we haven't found a single clue about the killer so far.

There is no connection between the victims. They didn't even experience any loss of property, whether it was cash, bank cards, or jewelry, nothing was lost at all. It's very much like a random, impromptu murder case.

But what's giving us a headache isn't this, because the victims are missing a lot of things."

Speaking to this point, Su's father frowned tightly, and his sharp eyes were filled with confusion. He uttered a word, "Meat."

"The amount of meat on the victims' bodies, as well as some of their internal organs, was taken away using a very crude method."